Monday, Aug. 3, 2020 | two:33 p.m.
A Las Vegas man was charged with identity theft and fraud-related fees after investigators said he owned almost two dozen unemployment gains cards from other people’s titles, federal officials said Monday.
Vincent Okoye, 38, had tons of other credit and debit cards issued in other people’s titles and was detained last Friday, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney at Nevada, Nicholas Trutanich.
Okoye was charged in federal court with one count of possession of a fake and unauthorized entry device and a single count of aggravated identity theft. He hasn’t yet made a first court appearance or even had a hearing scheduled at the circumstance.
Okoye doesn’t have an lawyer who could comment on his earlier, according to court documents. He does not have a publicly listed phone number where somebody could be contacted to comment on his or her behalf.
Researchers found in Okoye’s house over 100 debit and credit cards not issued in his name, prosecutors said. The discovery included 11 unemployment benefits debit cards issued by Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation and 12 unemployment benefits debit cards in Arizona’s Department of Economic Security.
They also discovered greater than $100,000 in cash and money orders, email with numerous titles and addresses, postal mail master keys along with a forged Canadian passport, according to court records.
Trutanich stated at a statement that fraud in Nevada’s unemployment benefits program is prevalent.
“This case is likely just the proverbial ‘tip of the iceberg’: We will track down and prosecute scammers who fraudulently obtain federal unemployment benefits,” Trutanich said.
Researchers stated in court records that they discovered the substance in Okoye’s house whilst hunting it beneath a warrant for an unrelated fraud case involving bank accounts attached to email phishing schemes.
